At A Glance
Author	Panzer
Contact	Panzer@bme.anon
When	A week ago
Artist	Cindi Gray
Studio	Forever Sacred
Location	Centerville, Iowa

If my grandparents only knew what their Christmas money purchased for me this year...

I suppose the rational place to begin this story would be at the beginning of my ordeal, by describing the circumstances under which I decided to get my nipples pierced.

In September of this year, I enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program of the U.S. army. I know, I know... it's horrible, but at the time I was only seeing the dollar signs and not the moral issues behind my decision. I was promised by the recruiters that if I changed my mind at any time, getting out would be easy, since it was only DEP and not real enlistment. Everything was good for a while, despite that I had to remove my tongue ring and all of my stretched ear piercings. I was going to get $20,000 just for signing, and I would have been getting a free education in the German language as I was to be a linguist! It was great, and I was all ready to go for my ship date: June 9th.

Things slowly began to unravel over the next two months. I didn't get the job I wanted, no any of the money promised. Instead, I was stuck with interrogator and told I would have a $4,000 signing bonus. When President Bush got reelected, I was devastated. Only then did I realize what a huge mistake I had made.

At the same time, I met someone special. I thought this someone was the Owner I had been searching for. Immediately, I set about canceling my DEP... what an adventure! First, the recruiter took back his statement about being able to get out of DEP. Then, when I confessed homosexuality and revealed that I had been accepted to a local college as a German major, they started telling me I would have to find a replacement for myself.

Easier said than done.

My mother and I found three flaws in the DEP contract. (1) It was based on my completion of high school (2) I could have no neck or scalp tattoos and (3) I could have no racist tattoos.

As it worked out, I got a hold of the CCCO and the GI Rights Hotline before I could quit in the middle of my Senior year, shave my head and get a swastika tattooed on my scalp. (Yes, that's how desperate and afraid I was!) The wonderful volunteers at the GI Rights Hotline not only informed me of my rights, but also told me how I could get out of the Delayed Entry Program: write a letter to the Commanding Officer, give valid reasons, and they have to release you. They informed me that not only were my reasons valid, the DEP contract was only a fancy promise for show and thus I would face no legal repercussion for not showing up the day I was scheduled to ship to enlistment and basic training! Joygasm!

That's the short of the story, excusing all the tears and nervous breakdowns I had between September and December. In the meantime, my new Owner had allowed me to get my tongue re-pierced, and everyone was relatively happy, for a bit.

Then, my relationship with that Owner ended due largely to conflict and distance between us. Devastation. I fought so hard to get out of the military, only to see that my Owner and I weren't nearly as compatible as we had thought.

A week ago, I found someone more local who is willing to not only be my Dom, but also wants to know me as a person and have a real relationship.

With everything that had happened and all the turmoil I had faced, I felt the need to reclaim myself before entering into servitude again. Through the army incident to the inevitable breakup, I felt like I'd been through hell.

A week ago, I got the call that my letter had been reviewed by the aforementioned commanding officer. The same night, the new Owner and I set up a day to go out on a first date.

The very next day, I got $50.00 Christmas money from my grandparents.

That Friday, I drove up to Forever Sacred to see Cindi and talk about piercing my nipples.

Though I have always wanted them done, I doubted whether or not I would go through with it. I was shaky the entire day at school, and imagined a billion different scenarios: me pulling out of the school parking lot and coming home, me going right past the piercing parlor and instead using the money to buy clothes, me going into the shop and buying a few pieces of jewelry, me telling Cindi I wanted my nose pierced.

The entire drive up I felt like I was on auto-pilot. Like I wasn't really in control, someone else was pushing me toward my final destination and the ultimate experience of getting a needle through my nipples. I merely drove on, listening to Rammstein and trying to calm myself.

When I arrived, everyone was glad to see me... I had apprenticed as a piercer for a little while at Forever Sacred and made friends with the workers there. Cindi asked if I needed anything, and I managed to squeak out that I was there for a piercing. When she asked me what I wanted pierced, I only grabbed my boobs and grinned sheepishly.

There were two tongues and a lip before me, waiting to be done, so I had plenty of opportunities to run to the bathroom at least twenty times during my wait. I took some Tylenol before, because I had heard it would help with the pain and wanted to test it.

When I was finally called back, Cindi shut the door to the piercing room and pulled the curtain around the table incase anyone walked in. I wasn't all that apprehensive about anyone seeing, but it was a nice gesture to help calm me at least. It made me feel safe knowing she thought of the smallest details.

In short order, I had stripped off my shirt and bra and was being cleaned and marked. I chose a horizontal placement with 14 gauge rings... surgical stainless steel with black beads.

Against my better judgment, I laid down and was clamped. And then is when the adrenaline really hit me. I started panicking... I was terrified of the pain. My nipples have never been overly sensitive, and I was hoping that piercing would help, but I knew that driving a needle through them wasn't going to be good.

Cindi somehow managed to get me calmed down enough to let her get in position, with a promise that she wouldn't pierce until I said go. When I got my industrial pierced by one of the colleagues at a shop I worked at, he had promised the same thing... and stuck me before I managed to squeak out go.

Cautiously, I watched her while I calmed my nerves. Deep breaths, in and out, thinking of a calming place. Spring time in Berlin. Flowers in full bloom. Vibrant pink and vivid yellow. SS officers playing the piano. I knew that when I said the word go, my life would be changed forever in a small way.

And I said GO, expecting the most painful experience of my entire life.

It hurt far less than my industrial. Much less than my navel. The only piercing I've ever had that hurt less than my left nipple was my tongue and I didn't even feel my tongue piercing.

Thank GODS I have nipples that are nearly dead to stimulation.

I actually giggled as the jewelry was being put through. It tickled more than it hurt, and the cold wipe Cindi used on it felt...a lot better than it should have!

After sitting up and admiring my new pierced titty, and allowing Cindi to double check the placement on the right one, I was lying back down for round two. My right nipple is significantly smaller than the left, so we pierced it in the areola to even them out and so that there would be enough skin there to hold the ring in. I'm not sure whether it was endorphins or the deeper placement that made the right one hurt more, but it wasn't bad either.

Again, I laughed while the jewelry was being put in...so much that my eyes started watering. Now, this is unusual, because I usually scream when getting pierced.

Sitting up and gazing in the mirror, it was love at first sight. I actually asked her if she wanted a picture for her portfolio, and she said yes. Apparently, not many women are okay with someone having photographs of their breasts.

Bra and shirt back on, I paid and waited around in the lobby for a little while to be sure I was okay to drive. I had to get gas on the way home, and the cold Missouri-December air wasn't really that much fun as it slowly penetrated my layers of clothing. That was the worst part of my whole nipple experience, and I actually woke up laying on my stomach the morning after!

I used to hate my breasts... now I find myself lingering over their reflection in the mirror and smiling at my Christmas gift to myself. Only a few days into the healing, they're already doing marvelous and they're my little secret...at least until the 28th of this month when I have my first date with the prospective new Owner.

Wish me luck... I think I deserve a little after all I've been through in the last four months!